- Rambert’s revival of Judgment of Paris – the latest addition to the Spring repertoire – will première at the New Theatre Oxford on Wed 27 April 2005 (until Sat 30 April)

- Rambert pays tribute to the late Maude Lloyd at a special event on Saturday 28 May

COMPANY NEWS

Maude Lloyd Tribute

Rambert Dance Company is hosting an invitation-only tribute for Maude Lloyd on Saturday 28 May at Sadler’s Wells, between the Company’s matinee and evening performance.

Maude Lloyd had a fascinating and important career, ranging from her years dancing with Rambert, to helping refugees during the war and culminating in her career as a writer with Nigel Gosling for The Observer.

This event will provide a wonderful opportunity for her contemporaries, friends and family to remember her. Supported by The Nureyev Foundation and The Observer, there will be several speakers including Jann Parry of The Observer, Sir John Tooley from The Nureyev Foundation and Leo Kersley of The Ballet Club, to be introduced by Mark Baldwin, Artistic Director of Rambert. The speeches will be accompanied by some unique footage of Maude dancing an Andrée Howard Solo, as well as performing in Les Masques, introduced by Jane Pritchard Rambert’s Archivist.

RAMBERT STAFF

Workshop Solo in Scottish Tour

Following Rambert’s Workshop Season in January 2005, The Curve Foundation Dance Company in Edinburgh is presenting Ana Lujan Sanchez’s new solo CervaNtes as part of their Spring tour. CurvaNtes appears alongside works from Merce Cunningham, Henri Oguike and Rui Graca.

The Curve Foundation will be touring across Scotland from 25 March to 30 April. For press information contact Olivier Joly on 0131 466 5181 / 07747 085 089 or

Rambert is delighted to announce the addition of two new members to the Company’s board of directors – Piali Ray, director of South Asian Arts agency SAMPAD and Tina Gaudoin, Style Director of the Saturday Times Magazine. Tina will also chair Rambert’s Capital Committee for the Capital Campaign.

Piali Ray is a specialist in Indian dance, and founded SAMPAD in 1990. The organisation prides itself as a thriving and leading national agency for the development of South Asian arts, based in Birmingham, and Piali has excelled as a performer, teacher and choreographer of Indian dance.

Tina Gaudoin is the Style Director for the Saturday Times Magazine, and also a Times columnist writing a weekly Cool Hunter column. With a varied and impressive track-record in the “style” media, Tina was a judge at the British Fashion Awards in 2004, and judge and member of the Cool Brandleaders Council. Tina is also the co-founder of Europe’s leading yoga centre: triyoga in Primrose Hill London.

Staff Departures

Rambert is sad to announce that Kyla Lucking, Education Officer and Charlotte Kasner, Web Manager will be leaving Rambert at the end of April. Kyla leaves to join South East Dance as Programme Manager for Creative Dance Apprenticeships and Charlotte will be concentrating her time on her doctoral studies specialising in Soviet Ballet.

Rafael Bonachela – Associate Choreographer

Rafael Bonachela’s work Irony of Fate, which was choreographed in 2004 and forms part of the Rambert spring repertoire, was awarded 3rd place in the 19th International Choreographic Competition in Hanover on Sunday 27 March 2005.

He has just finished a new commission for Union Dance Company in association with Malaysian-born choreographer Mavin Khoo. The work is called Sensing Change – an investigation of dance, music, light, video projection and acoustic space, and premières at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 11 and 12 May 2005. For more press information, contact Steven Drew at Guy Chapman Associates on 0207 395 2606 or steven@g-c-a.co.uk

Rafael’s choreographic work for Ms Minogue can be seen in her latest Showgirl UK Tour 2005, which opened in Glasgow last month. The tour moves to Birmingham (15-21 Apr), Manchester (23-28 Apr) and London, Earl’s Court (30 Apr – 6 May).

Rafael has also been commissioned to create a new work for Rambert Dance Company in Autumn 2005, to première at The Lowry in Salford on 21 September.

REPERTOIRE AND TOURING NEWS

Judgment of Paris Revival Première in Oxford

After an absence of 19 years Antony Tudor’s Judgment of Paris (1938) returns to Rambert’s repertoire. Judgment of Paris is a sardonic take on the classical myth that transforms the three goddesses into tired and tawdry floosies competing for the attention of a drunken client in a seedy nightclub.

Set to a score culled from Kurt Weill’s A Threepeny Opera it was created for Agnes de Mille’s ad hoc group of dancers at the intimate Westminster Theatre, London, and became part of the Rambert repertoire in 1940. It was created on a shoestring and presented on an undecorated stage.

Under supervision of Jane Pritchard, Rambert’s Archive recently acquired Hugh Laing’s sketchbook containing the designs for the production and his proposed set design is being realised for the first time by Liz Reed. The costumes are being remade by Sasha Keir using the 1938 originals as templates.

Judgment of Paris is being staged by Sally Martin who was the Company’s repetiteur at the time of the last major revival in 1980, when dancers who performed in Rambert’s earliest staging were consulted. She is using the Benesh Movement Notation score recorded by Dora Frankel in the mid 1970s. Supervising the production is Lucy Burge who danced the roles of both Venus and Minerva 1974–86 and John Chesworth who performed as the drunken client 1961–86 has assisted with the staging.

Momenta by Mikaela Polley

Following the Rambert Workshop Season in January 2005, dancer Mikaela Polley’s new work Momenta has been promoted to the Company’s main repertory and will be seen in Oxford and London. Momenta is an ensemble work for ten dancers and is performed to an original score of the same name by Patrick Nunn, a doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Music. Mikaela has been a dancer with Rambert since 2001 and this promotion is continuing proof of Rambert’s dedication to nurturing choreographers from within its ranks.

Momenta will appear at the New Theatre Oxford (27-30 Apr) and Sadler’s Wells (24-28 May).

DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

New Evening Classes for Summer

Rambert Education is delighted to announce the addition of two new evening classes for the summer term – the Rambert Repertoire Course and Adult Creative Dance Group.

The Repertoire Course will be led by Rambert dancer Patricia Okenwa and will offer a chance to learn material from Rambert’s current repertoire. The course is intended for participants with previous dance experience and will run on a Tuesday evening between 7-8.30pm.

The Adult Creative Dance Group will provide an opportunity to put technical contemporary skills into creative practice. This course will explore different ways of creating movement and as a group they will choreograph a new dance work to be performed at the end of term. The course is intended for participants with previous dance experience and will run on a Thursday evening between 6.30-8pm.

Another new addition to the summer term is the opportunity for participants of the Intermediate evening class (Tues 7-8.30pm) to work with Rambert Dancers – who will take turns to lead the course throughout the term.

Summer term evening classes run between Monday 11 April and Thursday 7 July (no classes 2, 23-27 & 30 May). Booking for these classes is by enrolment only on a first come, first served basis. To register, please contact Rambert Education on education@rambert.org.uk or phone 020 8630 0615

Rambert to lead Creative Project in Slough

Slough Borough Council has enlisted Rambert Dance Company to lead Creative – a two-week summer-project in Slough for eight aspiring dancers in association with Creative Academy.

Creative is a two-week residential course based at East Berkshire College in Langley from Monday 4 July until Friday 15 July. The eight lucky participants (aged 16 and over) will be selected from auditions held in early April.

Rambert Animateur Lincoln Alert will lead the course, with assistance from three other artistic staff members, culminating in a performance on Sunday 17 July at Thames Valley University as part of Slough’s Big Dance Weekend.

Date Change – Rambert Summer School 2005

The dates for Rambert’s annual Summer School have changed – it will now be held between 1 and 5 August 05 (instead of 18-22 July as previously announced).

The Summer School is a unique opportunity for students or teachers to work intensively with Rambert dancers, choreographers and teachers at the Company’s studios in Chiswick. Participants are given an intensive and stimulating opportunity to consolidate their existing skills and develop their technique to an event higher level.

The Rambert Summer School is designed for dancers, teachers and students of intermediate/advanced standard aged 17 plus. For more information or to register interest in the course, please email education@rambert.org.uk or phone 020 8630 0615

Coin Street Development

Rambert has been invited by Coin Street Community Builders, one of the country’s leading development trusts, to be a part of a mixed use development project on the Doon Street car park site, adjacent to the National Theatre on London’s South Bank.

Rambert’s current headquarters in west London no longer provides the space, accessibility or environmental conditions for the Company to continue to grow and flourish. Rambert now needs premises that will enable real artistic development and, at the same time, be fully accessible to all members of the community.

Following a recent architectural competition between four major practices, Allies and Morrison has been chosen to design and build Rambert’s new home. Plans for the building include rehearsal studios, a physiotherapy and exercise room, office space, the Rambert archive and a Resource Centre.

Rambert Dance Company, Britain’s flagship modern dance company, returns to Sadler’s Wells this spring with a rich programme of dance that includes the World Première of Constant Speed by Mark Baldwin – his first work as Artistic Director for Rambert Dance Company and specially commissioned by the Institute of Physics to celebrate Einstein™ Year in 2005.

The programme also includes the London Revival Premières of Dark Elegies and Judgement of Paris by Antony Tudor, and a new work from Rambert Dancer/choreographer Mikaela Polley – Momenta – which was produced for the 2005 Rambert Workshop Season. All of the works will be performed to live music, played by Rambert’s award-winning Associate Orchestra, London Musici, conducted by Rambert’s Music Director, Paul Hoskins.

Mark Baldwin has been Artistic Director for Rambert Dance Company since December 2002, and his leadership of the Company has been hailed as a resounding success. Constant Speed will be his inaugural choreographic work since the appointment and has been specially commissioned by The Institute of Physics to mark Einstein™ Year in 2005 and received an investment from Arts & Business New Partners.

Einstein Year celebrates the centenary of the publication of Albert Einstein’s major theories, including the theory of special relativity (E=mc²); theories which changed scientific thinking about the universe forever. Drawing inspiration from these three key publications, Constant Speed will be performed to the luxuriant music of Franz Lehar, designed by film/fashion/art director Michael Howells with lighting design by Samantha McNern.

Mark’s global status as a choreographer has been affirmed through the numerous awards he has received. These include the Bonnie Bird Choreographic Award (1992), the 1995 Time Out Award for Dance, and the South Bank Show Award for the Mark Baldwin Dance Company’s The Bird Sings With Its Fingers (2001). In 1996 he received the French Grand Prix Award for Film for Echo and his most recent award has been the 2002 Dance Artist Fellowship for Outstanding Contribution for Dance.

Dark Elegies by Antony Tudor formed part of Rambert Dance Company’s Mahler and Dance programme at the 2004 Edinburgh International Festival. It was originally choreographed for Ballet Rambert’s London season in 1937, set to the music of Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children), providing the inspiration and theme for the ballet. Dark Elegies is a masterwork from the Rambert repertoire and was once described by Marie Rambert in her autobiography Quicksilver as “the greatest tragic ballet of the English repertoire”.

Dark Elegies initially struck a chord with those aware of civilian suffering in the Spanish Civil War, but its timeless and eloquent choreography has retained its significance, particularly to disasters involving groups of children. When it opened in Edinburgh in September 2004 it coincided with the breaking news of the school siege in Beslan, bringing a tragic relevance to the piece.

Set to extracts from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, Antony Tudor's Judgment of Paris is a sardonic take on the classical myth. In this black comedy, the three women are no longer goddesses but tired, tawdry floozies competing for the attentions of a drunken client in a seedy night-club. This little Tudor gem was first performed by Rambert in 1940 and has been revived on several occasions since.

Momenta by Rambert dancer Mikaela Polley was created for the Rambert Workshop Season in January 2005, and has been promoted to the Company’s main repertory. Momenta is an ensemble work for ten dancers and is performed to an original score of the same name by Patrick Nunn, a doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Music. Mikaela has been a dancer with the Company since 2001 and this promotion is continuing proof of Rambert’s dedication to nurturing choreographers from within its ranks.

Rambert Dance Company’s award-winning Associate Orchestra, London Musici provides live music where possible. Rambert’s Music Director Paul Hoskins and London Musici won the 2004 Time Out Live Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Music plays an essential part in Rambert’s creative vision, and the depth, skill and versatility of London Musici remains a major asset of Rambert’s performances.

The company took with almost palpable relief to the modern works, a soft-focus, apprentice ensemble in pale blue, Momenta, by dancer Mikaela Polley, and Michael Clark's Swamp, which looks more and more like a masterpiece.

Sarah and Anna from Abingdon“ Judgment was great, very witty decadent cabaret feel. Very subtle and clever. Momenta had tremendous energy, very easy to watch. “
Elaine and Lisa from Oxford“ Judgment of Paris we particularly enjoyed. We liked the portrayal of stiffness and inelegance, very clever. The lighting was fab. Lisa liked the energy and dance in the 2nd piece.”
Julia and Jenny from OxfordJulia, “ I don’t come often. I thought the first was very eloquent with lots of acting and I liked the music. The second was amazing.”
Jenny, “ Great. I liked the colours of the second. I noticed there were not even numbers of men and women and wondered if they were a man short, all that lifting must take it’s toll. Very fluid beautiful dance.
Alan and Elaine from West OxfordshireElaine, “Very different to what we have seen before. The first was very funny. The dancing and lighting were brilliant in both.”
Alan, “ Ask me again after Swamp. That’s what I really want to see and I am really looking forward to it. No comments on it so far.” ( Sadly I couldn’t find him to ask )

In 2nd interval

Davies family from Reading with two sons aged 11 and 13The Boys, “ This is the first time we’ve been – it’s really good, we liked the first two better than the third.”
Mrs Davies, “ I think the 3rd suffered from the awful heat in the theatre – we just wanted to get out in the air. We liked Judgment of Paris as we liked the humour and the story was easy to pick up and understand. My husband liked the movement of the second one. We found Dark Elegies a bit uninspiring, dark and depressing but the heat probably affected our view.”
Jo from Hampshire, “ I particularly liked Dark Elegies, the music , choreography and the mood it created.”
Linda from Swindon. “ I am not enjoying it at all. I like dance and haven’t seen Rambert before. I am quite disappointed. The theatre is far too hot. I liked the first, it was expressive and funny. Not the other two at all. The last I found depressing.
Duncan from Oxford“ The first was a little staid. I liked the movement and felt it was a nice warm up to the evening, The second had good energy, brilliant. It carried you along because it carries itself nicely. Over quickly.I found the third a bit dark and depressing”
His girlfriend arrived and added, “ Dark Elegies was very moving, lots of interesting shapes. It was very obvious it was about loss. I didn’t find it at all dark, just intensely moving.”
Anne from Oxford“ I loved Dark Elegies, the patterns and shapes and the way emotion was conveyed through the dance. I particularly found the first girl's solo very moving. “

At the end of the evening I didn’t have time to record specific reactions but got some overall opinions. Swamp was liked by all I talked too and was found an exhilarating piece with which to have ended the evening. One lady said it had made her rethink her ideas on Dark Elegies and that the two pieces were such contrasts she thought it showed the great breadth the company are capable of. Swamp was obviously very much enjoyed. It met with enthusiastic and sustained applause. Such a shame the auditorium was so unbearably hot, two couples I spoke to decided to leave before Swamp, which was a pity because several people I spoke to felt it had made the evening a very nicely balanced programme with something to please almost everyone.

And from Lauren aged 8, " I thought the dancers were very together in Momenta. I really liked Judgment of Paris, it was funny,especially when the dancer couldn't do the splits( I know she really can ). I liked Dark Elegies because the girls danced in point shoes and the dancers made nice patterns. I liked the steps and the arm shapes. It made me feel sad though."

Thanks as always, Avril, for your commitment above and beyond the call of duty. And all this when you should be enjoying a drink at the bar.

The views on "Dark Elegies" are interesting - some people seem to be saying that the dance has to be entertaining and tragedy should be saved for other art forms. "Swamp" has received so much praise from critics and fans alike, it's shaping up as a modern masterpiece. Wonder how it will look when it is the same age as "Dark Elegies" is now ie 70 years.

Thanks for your kind comments. Interesting comment about how Swamp will look like in the future. I really liked Dark Elegies, as I did when I saw it in Edinburgh. For me I like dance to be thought provoking and to move me as well as to entertain , which is why I enjoy Ramberts programming so much as there is generally such a wide variety. It would be a very dull experience for me if it merely served to entertain on a superficial level and some of my most enjoyable evening have been when something has moved me to tears - but then I may be odd. Just go along to Sadlers Wells and decide for yourselves!

There should be lots of news around about Rambert in the next couple of weeks as Mark
Baldwin's first ballet is premiered in Sadlers Wells at the end of May. It is called "Constant Speed" and was a commission from the Institute of Physics Publishing.

Other good news is that we have a small award from the Britten Foundation towards the new Rafael Bonachela ballet this autumn. The music he is using is, naturally by Benjamin Britten.

February 2005... Rambert's Swamp wins 'Best New Dance Production' at the 2005 Olivier
Awards. For dates where you can see it this spring visit www.rambert.org.uk.
"Amazing, simply amazing" The Times, November 2004

Dance at the speed of lightBallet Rambert is interpreting Einstein’s theories on stage. Our correspondent takes a physics lesson. By Debra Craine for The Times:

LEONARDO DA VINCI may have been scientist and artist in equal measure, but these days his two disciplines don’t often mix. Only the most adventurous artists dare to sample the arcane concepts and esoteric principles of modern scientific thinking.

Tom Stoppard did it famously in his plays, exploring particle physics and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle in Hapgood and chaos theory in Arcadia. His fellow playwright Michael Frayn visited the mind-bending world of quantum physics in Copen-hagen; while Charlotte Jones tried to explain superstring theory in her recent Humble Boy.

A varied and intriguing opening night at Sadler's. The highspot for me was Antony Tudor's "Dark Elegies", which looked wonderful in this venue and the company danced this desperately sad work with great emotion and precision.

The World Premiere of Mark Baldwin's "Constant Speed" closed the performance to great applause and Mark came on stage afterwards and gambolled about with delight. Everyone I spoke to loved it, which left me feeling like Mr Grumpy as I found it over-busy, with the link to the material obscure.

"Momenta" by company dancer Mikaela Polley looked very polished with interesting moves. Tudor's "Judgement of Paris" has a single joke about seedy dancers and a drunk in a dive and only had historic interest for me.

Below are some of the comments from audience members after the show.

Last edited by Stuart Sweeney on Wed May 25, 2005 5:38 am, edited 4 times in total.

I enjoyed the show. I loved the music [Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder"] for "Dark Elegies" and the great emotion of the work. I also loved the last piece, "Constant Speed" and thought it really suited the Company.

A wonderful evening. We both loved the last piece, "Constant Speed" - fantastic for both the music and the choreography. Also "Dark Elegies" which provided a great opportunity for the dancers - marvellous.

I'm sorry to say that I thought the evening mediocre. The dancers certainly have potential, but the material doesn't give them the chance to fully come out. I liked the costumes in "Constant Speed", but I didn't get the point. Best was "Dark Elegies": technically neat with tension and the emotion coming out.

Overall there were good elements in all the pieces, but my impression was of dancers like puppets and all rather pointless. I enjoy the work of people such as Trisha Brown and Pina Bausch.

I enjoyed the evening. The first one ["Judgment of Paris"] was amusing and cheeky. "Constant Speed" was spectacular with its colour and the full cast. "Dark Elegies" was OK, but not my favourite. I found it a bit repetitive

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